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Phineas and Ferb Wiki:Manual of Style
Canon Policy Here at Phineas and Ferb Wiki, we only use information gathered from the series itself. We do not use any information from fan written fiction otherwise known as fanon. We also prohibit the use of slang terms as topics of articles, such as Phinabella. This is not appropriate for this wiki and may result in blockage of the user. From time to time, the wiki may obtain first-hand information from series creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. This will be treated as canon unless specifically refuted on-screen. Use of information from Povenmire and Marsh must be noted in the Background Information section of an article. Refer to the Phineas and Ferb Wiki:FAQ for a discussion of non-canon issues that keep reappearing. Character Ages The only ages that may be included in the Phineas and Ferb Wiki are ones that have been explicitly or implicitly stated on the show. Users must not edit pages to include other speculative ages of characters that are not mentioned in the show. If an age is mentioned on a page, the source must be cited in the Background Information section of the article. However, many of the kid's ages have been mentioned as less than 15. Very few character ages have been specified in the show. See the January 25, 2009 entry in Dan Povenmire Correspondence. Grammar and Punctuation When writing articles it is important to follow these rules of the English language: #Don't use netspeak or any similar slang and avoid abbreviations in articles. We are compiling a professional resource for Phineas and Ferb fans. #Keep your writing around a 6th Grade reading level. You don't need to fill it with big words just to make it sound smarter, especially if you're not certain how the word should be used. #Vary your words. When writing, try to vary the words you use and the length of your sentences. It makes things sound more interesting. #Capitalize words when appropriate. (see below) #Use correct punctuation. This includes commas, periods, quotation marks, and apostrophes. (see below) #Know the difference between homophones: there, their, and they're; here and hear; it's and its; who's and whose. Capitalization #Capitalize the first word of every sentence. (e.g. The backyard gate opens, and Isabella asks, "Whatcha' doin'?") #Capitalize proper nouns. (e.g. Heinz Doofenshmirtz) #Capitalize the first, last, and important words in a title. (e.g. "Journey to the Center of Candace") For a full list visit [http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm Capital Community College's ''Guide to Grammar and Writing] Punctuation In addition to basic punctuation, it is important to know how to punctuate titles. Titles are always either in italics or inside quotation marks. Italics Italics are used for large works like movies, television series, books, and albums. :Examples: :*''Phineas and Ferb'' :*''Speed Demons'' To use italics on Wikia place two single quote marks before and after the title: :Phineas and Ferb These are single quotes ('), not double quotes ("). Alternately, highlight the title you want to put in italics with your mouse and click the "I''" button in the toolbar above the edit box (in between the B for bolding and AB for the Internal link). Quotation Marks Quotation marks are used to enclose things that are part of a larger work, such as episodes, songs, and book chapters. :'Example:' :*"Rollercoaster" :*"In the Empire" A shortcut to add quotation marks around a title is to click on the set of quotation marks in the Edit Tools below the edit box. This will put a set of quotation marks into the edit box. You can also highlight a title and click the quotation marks to add them. This works with many of the other items in the Edit Tools box. Links To link to another article inside Phineas and Ferb Wiki, you must put [[]] around it. To link to an article in Wikipedia, use wikipedia: and put the article title inside. If an article does not exist by that name, the link will show up as dark red, like this. External links will show up as blue. You only need to link to another page once in any given article. Most of the time this is the first time that article's title comes up, but there are some exceptions to this. :'Examples:' :*Linda Flynn :*an article about the platypus Episode Articles *Do not link to another page during the brief introductory summary that appears prior to the Table of Contents. Instead, link only the first time an article title appears in the Episode Summary. *In the Memorable Quotes section, link to an article the first time it appears even if it's been linked to previously. *In the Cast section, each actor and character should be linked to. Links to Character Articles When referencing a character, a majority of the time they can be referred to by just their first name, e.g., Phineas instead of Phineas Flynn. To assist with creating links inside pages, redirects have been established for the characters with unique names (Candace, Baljeet, Isabella, etc.). This reduces the amount of typing without affecting the appearance of a link. :'Examples:' :*'Phineas' works just the same as 'Phineas Flynn' and 'Phineas' :*'Dr. Doofenshmirtz' works just the same as 'Heinz Doofenshmirtz' :*'Dr. Doofenshmirtz' works just the same as 'Dr. Doofenshmirtz' If it is necessary to have the link display something other than the title of the link, that information should be placed after the pipe (the vertical bar) inside the link: 'Candace's mom. Spacing Web pages do not look the same for everyone. Different web browsers will display things different from one another. For example, Firefox may show a sentence wrapping around a picture while Safari does not. Internet Explorer 8 will show a transparent background in a PNG picture while Internet Explorer 6 does not. Monitor sizes and resolutions will also affect how much can be seen at one time. A 15" monitor isn't as wide as a 19" monitor, so web pages will be longer on a 15" monitor than they will on the 19" monitor. Pages on a 19" monitor can also be longer if the resolution is set low. For example, 800x600 instead of 1280x1024. When editing a page, use the following rules: * Keep article content as close to the top of the page as possible. * Put one blank line in between paragraphs. * Put two blank lines if you need to separate things with a little more space, such as certain templates. * Larger spacings should be created with different commands rather than adding more blank lines. Naming Articles Episodes Episode articles are named for the episodes precisely as they are presented on-screen. Each episode begins by portraying its title and we must use it exactly as written. '''This includes capitalization and punctuation, but does not include the quotation marks around the title. When linking to an episode article, quotation marks should be used, as shown in the examples below. *Use "Bowl-R-Ama Drama" instead of "Bowl-R-Rama Drama" *Use "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!" instead of "One Good Scare Ought To Do It!" or "One Good Scare Oughta Do It!" Please note that it may be appropriate to create redirects from one or two common misspellings or mis-capitalizations of titles to make users' searches easier. Administrators may move articles without consultation when they don't conform to the Episode Naming Policy. Characters There are a few simple rules to follow when naming a character article. #Characters are named using first and last name if both are known, i.e. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. #If a character's last name is not known from a canon source, then it is okay to use only a first name, i.e. Gretchen. #If a character's first name is not known from a canon source, then it is okay to use the last name preceded by a known title, i.e. Dr. Gevaarlijk. You may want to create redirects for common address of a character. For example: *Redirect Phineas to Phineas Flynn *Redirect Dr. Doofenshmirtz to Heinz Doofenshmirtz *Redirect Agent P to Perry the Platypus Administrators may move articles without consultation if they do not conform to the Character Naming Policy. Songs Due to inconsistencies between how song titles are listed on official registration sites and on albums (the song titles may be different between the two and may be capitalized differently), the following rules apply: * Each word will be capitalized except for minor words like "a", "an", "is", "the", "to", et cetera, with the first word in the title always capitalized. Example: "Rollercoaster" (song) * When more than one official source is available for a song title, the following order will be used to determine which song title is used: :# A commercial release, such as a CD :# A message from Dan Povenmire or Jeff "Swampy" Marsh :# A Disney press release :# The BMI registered song title * When a song has the same name as another page, the following will be used to determine which gets priority: :# Episodes :# Characters :# Big Ideas :# Songs :In this situation, the song page should be named with "(song)" after it in lowercase letters. Example: "Rollercoaster" (song) Other topics Other topics should always use lower case letters after the initial capitalization unless the word is always capitalized. For example: *Use List of songs instead of List of Songs *Use Doofenshmirtz family instead of Doofenshmirtz Family *Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated is correct because it is a proper noun. Note that this wiki handles capitalized words differently than lowercase words. Entering them into search will bring up two different articles. Point of View Articles on the Phineas and Ferb Wiki are written from an in-universe point of view as if the person, object, or event actually existed or occurred. *Use tense the same way a standard encyclopedia would. *Because the passage of time is unclear and some episodes occur out or chronological order, it may sometimes be difficult not to refer to another episode by name. You should strive to use language that would be in-universe in order to avoid it whenever possible. The best way to avoid naming an episode is to describe the events of the episode such as, "On the day Phineas and Ferb built the rollercoaster." *Behind the scenes information should be located in a "Background Information" section or indented and italicized if you do not have enough for a separate section. This information is covered by the Real World point of view. Real World Point of View The real world point of view applies to articles that are written about production personnel, actors, some songs, or other series information which are not part of the Phineas and Ferb universe. They should be written the same as a standard encyclopedia entry in present day. All of these articles are marked with a tag. For all articles where it is necessary to include a link to an external site for a real-world article, use italics for books, movies and songs. Use regular text for all other links. Examples: :* Google — non-italicized link :* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — italicized link to the movie article Episodes Episode articles are a blend of the in-universe and real world points of view. Summaries may be written in present tense and in a novelization style if desired but should otherwise maintain an in-universe point of view. Infoboxes and all other sections are written from the real world point of view. The intro will be a brief and general summary on the article; if it is a season finale, season premiere, or series premiere, then please note after that intro summary in parenthesis and italics. :Use: "Phineas and Ferb are sitting under the tree in their backyard listening to the radio." :Instead of: "The episode begins with Phineas and Ferb sitting under the tree in their backyard listening to the radio." :Use: "Meanwhile, Perry the Platypus crashes through the wall at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated." :Instead of: "We cut to Perry the Platypus crashing through the wall at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated." Song Lyrics Articles for song lyrics include a summary of the episode(s) the song appears in, followed by the lyrics and any background or other information relating to the song. When typing the lyrics, follow this format: * If more than one person has lines in the song, preface the line where the singer changes with the person's name in bold. ::Phineas: Through the eye of the needle ::It's time to loosen your tongue ::Got a tip how to make ends meet ::Singers (and crowd): A-G-L-E-T, don't forget it. * The first time a person sings, include a link to their page. For all later instances, do not include links. ::Danny: When I was a boy, down in South Illinois, ::I heard a man playing blues, oh, what a wonderful noise. * Spoken lines should be in italics. ::Phineas: I can't believe you still haven't learned the word. I mean, we spelled it a bunch of times in the song. * Descriptions should be in parentheses and italics. ::(at this point, the lyrics cannot be understood because they fade out and are covered by Candace's and Linda's lines) * Capitalize the first letter on each line, even when it is the continuation of a sentence. * Lyrics usually do not include ending punctuation, such as the period at the end of a sentence, but it is recommended to use them. The first example above, from "A-G-L-E-T", does not include ending punctuation for the first three lines. * Use a break (' ') at the end of each line in a verse and a blank line to separate verses. This will show where each verse begins and ends. In the example below, a blank line was added after the "That he'd a-never" line and the rest of the lines have at the end. ::Phineas: Just take the blues, throw out your hip, and add a little swing... ::Danny: Ah, music has the power, that without it, he'd a-sworn ::That he'd a never met my mom and I'd a-never been born... ::(Psychedelic guitar solo) ::Phineas: So what's this? ::Danny: This is Psychedelia; It's where the guitar solo came from. * Dialogue that takes place during the song should be included. In the example above, the last two lines are a conversation between Phineas and Danny that occurs when the colors appear in the background. * Inflections can be used to show how a line was sung, rather than just providing the words. Examples: ::*GOODNIGHT TRI-STATE AREA! -- the line is shouted ::*Or else it's shame on you-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oooooo! -- the last word is "warbled" and stretched out * If the song uses slang or colloquial terms, include them instead of trying to change them into a formal word. ::*I got a hankerin' for potaters -- do not change this to "I got a hankering for potatoes" Note: This also applies for transcripts. The first time someone says something, a link to that character's article is required. Sources When writing an article, you must cite a source. This involves adding the episode name after the sentence(s). :Phineas formed the famous group Phineas and the Ferb-Tones that year, a mega hit in America. ("Flop Starz") If the source is not an episode, book, etc., but an interview or something like this, you must cite it via reference tags. :"A lot of what I see the series now is borrowed from Tex.""From Swampy & Dan Emerges Phineas and Ferb", Page 1. If you use any resource outside of the show, please list your sources in a section titled "Sources" at the end of the article. A basic setup follows. Sources *Speed Demons *Your Guide to Phineas and Ferb! *Dan's Blog on Blog.net *Dan Povenmire Correspondence Spoilers We only use information from material that has already aired on Disney Channel in the United States. If you wish to include information from an unaired episode, you must mark the article with the appropriate tags. *Any article that includes spoilers must have a tag at the beginning of the article. *If spoilers are to be included in any article other than a main episode article, then the spoiler must be contained within the separate tag. This tag uses java to hide spoilers from those who do not want to read them. Note that wiki markup does not work inside this tag. Please keep this information to a minimum and try to only include verified information and not idle speculation. Some users do not want any information about upcoming episodes and we must respect that. See also * *Category:Help Category:Policy Category:Help